It’s not that we didn’t get a lot done. (It’s also not that we got a lot done. We got a somewhat respectable amount of stuff done. Depending on who is measuring. And I am measuring, so I say we did SWIMMINGLY.) It was just over too fast.

ALWAYS over too fast.

I’m not one of those people who craves solitude. Oh, sure — at the end of the day with the fussernutters over here, I’m ready for a little time away from them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to be alone. So when I know it’s time for Matt to go back to work, I get that little ball of WAH in the bottom of my belly. I’m just happier when he’s around. (And not even JUST because he changes all the diapers when he’s here. OH YES I STRUCK GOLD WITH THIS ONE.)

I got through the last month or so knowing this glorious four day stretch was just around the corner. Knowing it is now nearly behind me makes me a bit wistful, if I’m being honest.

But! All is not lost. We plan to use the last little bit of time left in this weekend to get some Christmas decorations up. Which is why I have put exactly no thought into this post. AREN’T YOU THE LUCKY ONES?

I knew full well when I typed that I might find myself regretting it later — one can only listen to B-I-N-G-O so many times before taking to one’s bed bedecked with noise-canceling headphones, after all. What I did NOT expect was for this observation to be completely incorrect.

Last night, as we sat down to a dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers, Vio had something very important to tell us.

“After dinner, we’re gonna read a book!”

I gave her a sidelong glance and remarked, “Oh, we are, are we? What book are we going to read?”

“Oh, Mommy. *I* am going to read YOU GUYS the book.”

“So what book will YOU be reading us, then?” I asked.

“It’s not a BOOK, Mommy. I’m going to just read it to you!”

At this point it finally clicked for me that she had made up a story she wanted to tell us. When her dad tried to ask her what it was about, she gave him a stern look and explained that it was a SURPRISE, silly.

After dinner, we all snuggled on the couches so she could tell us her story:

“ONCE UPON A TIME, there were some … flowers. And after that, some ducks came. They came in our yard and took all the flowers! And after THAT, a SHEEP came!”

The whole time she was telling the story, her little face was lit up with complete excitement. Even when she told us SIX more stories, our ears stayed open and our smiles stayed wide.

So, I do take back what I said — singing songs all day, while cute, is not the best age. The best age is being 28, taking all this in.

1. Thanksgiving was an unmitigated success! Except for the part where my oven coil burnt out. Well, sort of blew up? Popped? There was a bang, a white flash of light, and then a small, warm puddle formed at my feet. This was fortunately after the turkey had come out of the oven, but before I was to put all of the side dishes in to warm while the turkey rested and I made the gravy. Which means I then had to send stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, (thankfully pre-made and frozen) biscuits, and squash through the microwave to be reheated — separately. That took a BIT LONGER than planned, but it still tasted good in the end.

2. I did it! I attempted a new pie crust! I went with … the one on the Crisco can. I know. But I took Melissa’s advice and made sure the shortening was really cold before cutting it into the flour. It really worked! Best pie crust I’ve ever made, and it was fairly easy to work with. Yippee!

3. We had great success with Black Friday shopping this morning. This is the one day a year it comes in handy that our children wake with the sun. We’re not nutty enough to go wait in line for things, but we snagged some good deals and knocked off much of Vio’s Christmas list.

4. Notice I said much of VIO’s Christmas list there, and not Roo’s. I’m having a freakishly difficult time with her Christmas shopping. This is somewhat exacerbated by her 1st birthday being (gulp) eight days from now. I’m a little bit in denial about that. I have no idea what to get her for gifts — we got most of the standard one-year-old staples (nesting cups, shapes sorter, etc.) when Vio turned one. Any suggestions?

5. The best part of hosting Thanksgiving is you get all the leftovers. Stuffing should be a food group.

6. Also pie. Pie should be a food group. Apples and pumpkins are totally good for you, so this probably shouldn’t even count as dessert. A rich breakfast, at worst.

7. I’m SO RELIEVED NaBloPoMo is almost done. I have really run out of ideas here! It’s been a lot of fun (and definitely a challenge) to come up with something more than a 100-word cop out post each day (although one or two of those DID slip through WHOOPS.) I’m beginning to feel a bit like a house guest well past her third day. My words are like fishes. (See? Let’s, uh, stop there.)

There’s no way not to make this cheesy, right? So I don’t think I’ll even bother fighting it. I have about 80000 things to be getting done right now, but what is most important to me is making note of all I have to be thankful for this year.

I am thankful for my children. Last year on this day, I was 38 weeks pregnant with no idea of the personality of the little person in my belly. Didn’t even know she was a SHE. And now she is walking and calls me mama and has been a greater blessing than I ever could have hoped for. Vio has grown more into her childhood, far out of her babyhood, and it shines through in every conversation we have, every song she sings, and every foot stamped down in defiant independence.

I am thankful for my husband. I don’t know how to put this one into words, quite honestly. We don’t have to speak to each other or be doing anything. Just sitting together, watching TV or playing a game, who we are and what we have is right there in the room with us. As Roo grows and sleeps and moves away from me a bit, we’re finally finding the time together that we’ve been missing so much since she was born.

I am thankful for my family. My parents are both healthy. They are happy, together, and in love. They come to see my girls every week. I am thankful my uncle, who suffered from a debilitating stroke about six years ago, has made it through to see another holiday season.

I am thankful for my friends. Friends who hold me up when it’s all I can do not to fall over from the weight of it all; friends who will stay up with me late into the night, making me laugh when I think I can’t. I am thankful for the new friends I have found this past year, through the insanity that is the internet. I’m thankful for all of you who come here, who read my words and leave me kind words in return.

I’d really like to go on, but at the moment, I am thankful to have the chance to take an uninterrupted shower before my guests start arriving.

And I don’t just mean holiday traditions. I can make ANYTHING a tradition. Like ordering the exact same thing every time I go to a specific restaurant.

Oh, I’ll play at changing things up. Sit for 10 minutes agonizing over the menu. I’ll narrow it down to two options: something BOLD and NEW, and my old mainstay. Then I wait for the server to call upon me to pick my poison. And it is always, ALWAYS what I usually get.

I’m in the throes of something similar over my holiday menu. Ever since I started doing this myself, I’ve used the same recipes for each component of the meal. Same apple pie filling. Same stuffing. Same candied sweet potatoes.

This morning I even tweeted, looking for pie crust suggestions! See:

And I got suggestions! Really good ones. Pie crusts that look delicious and different and flaky and magnificent.

But probably? Probably I’ll end up using my same recipe I’ve been trying to perfect forever. Certain that THIS TIME will be different.

Really, it’s that I hate to make decisions. About anything. When I was ordering cloth diaper covers for Roo several months back, I AGONIZED over what colors to buy. Uh. Why? Why would I put myself through that? It is a diaper color, not a BOMB WIRE. Red or green? IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE HERE. I thought Matt was going to lock me out of the house and internet for good.

(Oddly enough, important decisions? THOSE I don’t fret over. I KNOW. It makes no sense.)

Sometimes I think life would be easier if I could just hire someone to stand beside me and make decisions for me. Which restaurant for dinner? Should I buy these pants? DO I WANT BANGS?

But probably I’d need someone else to decide whom to hire.

And I don’t have time for that nonsense. I’ve got, like, a million sweet potato recipes to peruse.